China to recruit 10,000 volunteers to monitor Internet content

By IBT Staff Reporter On 06/18/09 AT 8:54 PM

Despite of the criticism received of the Chinese government over its mandate to have computer-makers install the “Green Dam” Internet filtering software, the government has moved to recruit 10,000 volunteers to filter Internet Contents.

The Beijing government’s Spiritual Civilization Office says it is trying to recruit 10,000 volunteers by the end of the summer to monitor internet content. The move according to the Beijing government’s Spiritual Civilization Office is part of “purifying social civilization.

China seems no retreat no surrender on web filtering with the use of Green Dam. The government hasn't move back about its decision over internet-filtering software to be installed on all PC's and laptops to be sold in China after July 1.

The move follows a recent revelation that the State is pushing manufacturers to install privacy software, but China's plan to enforce internet-filtering software may not go as well as it had hoped.

Solid Oak Software of Santa Barbara said last week that China has stolen its own programming code. The company says that it has evidence to support copyright infringement claims against developers Jinhui Computer System Engineering Co and Dazheng Human Language Technology Co, and says it is considering seeking an injunction in a US court.

We are weighing our legal rights against the two program developers in China, said Jenna DiPasquale, the head of Solid Oak PR and marketing. We should know more in the coming 24-48 hours.

Li Fangping, a Beijing human rights advocate who often embraces controversial causes said how the government responds in the end will depend on the response from Chinese Internet-users. If it's strong, they'll back down, and may let the plan quietly die.

With more than 250 million Internet users, China employs some of the world's strictest controls over what citizens can view on the Internet. China is one of the world's fastest-growing PC markets, and has hundreds of millions of Internet users. Research firm Gartner forecasts total PC shipments will climb by about 3 percent this year to more than 42 million units.

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